The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1887-01-15
Correspondence Baltimore County Uni;
A FIRST VISIT TO EUROPE.
pAPER No. IL

on @ somewhat eleVaLeu railway, one sees q cit <
| of-chmney pots with houses under them. But
London is London, the city of the world, and one
is not long in recognizing that. If its buildings
do not tower they are broad and substantial, and
their dinginess soon begins to convey impressions
of antiquity and of unostentatious respectability
| There are practically no street cars in London,
| but the "busses' institution. They run
| about a minute apart up one side and down the
other of all the principal streets. They "dou-
| BILE deckers"-to use an Americanism-and seat
on top is most desirable and even for ladies most
comfortably accessible. The drivers, too, are an
institution-only more so-and in their indyidu i
| atty was manifested to us more of the London of
| Dickens than came to us from any other source.
They are perfect encyclopedias of a certain kind
| of knowledge and by no means uncommunicative.
| One question from a stranger, betraying an in
curing turn of mind, is sufficient to tap the full
cask of their v0lublity and start endless stream
of information on the points of interest along the
route. We always aimed for seat rear one Of
these jolly, kindly fellows and never delayed long
the initiative inquiry.
Trying to see London was like trying to see q
double Paris. With all the French straining after
| memorials, Paris as compared with London was
almost dearth of historically interesting objects
specifically national. The iconoclastic spirit of
the French people does not con6ne its devastating
manifestations to the gods of the Gentiles. Again
and again have their own idols of day been
Crampleu unuer tnelr leeC anu SrVuuu lHIo du III
indistinguishable mingling with the very dust of
| the earth. The conservatism of the English on
the contrary, Joined to their national prowess has
preserved in tact place after place, through age
| after age of storied fame, and bridge and mart
| house and street seem to throng again with the
spirits of those who set upon these feless things
| the stamp of their own Immortality. The very
mention of Fleet and Strand, Black Friar's and
London Bridge, Temple Bar and Regent Street,
| Rotten Row and Picadilly, Cheapside and Seven
| Dals, Chancery Lane and Charing Gross, strs the
dust of centuries. The very names are assign
manual of antiquity, in the case of the one last
mentioned. The spot was once marked by cross
in honor of Eleanor, the good queen of Edward l.,
| and the name is an Angiiczed corruption of "La
| Croix de la Chere Refine"
Of course one goes to the Tower and also of
course is impressed by its gloomy massiveness, its
| wonderful state of preservation. But we were so
haunted by the tales of anguish and horror linked
with almost every spot in chamber and staircase,
in hall and dugeon, together with the fact that in
its chapel lie the bodies of Sir Thomas More, Lady
Jane Grey, and host of other unfortunates whose
| heads fell either on Tower Hill within the
| tie walls, that we not diverted by the won
| derful and extensive collection of skifully
| arranged armor and much less by the gaudy
| mockery of the crown jewels and regalia. We did
| find an entertaining diversion, however, in the
parade drill of the garrison, which was composed
| Highlanders in full costume Glorious looking
| fellows they were with their splendid physiques,
their floating tartans and their glittering cairn
| germs, sight to set glowing memory picture
and fl it for many day.
| The British Museum, with its invaluable and
almost infinite collection of antiquities, was in
teresting to us principally for the Elgin Marvles
and for the remains from the Mausoeum at Hale
carnassus. Never were we so impressed with a
sense of the wonder, the glory, the beauty OF
Greek art Never so moved with the realization
of the fact that all which cometh of the dust must
return to tho dust - 49,
By dnt of considerable cred tape" we managed
to get sight of the famous Portland Vase. 1t is
but foot high and was found in the tomb of
Alexander the Great. It is of dark blue glass;
beautifully ornamented with exquisite figures of
white opaque glass in relief 1t was broken to
pieces some years ago by blow from the cane of
lunatic visitor. 1t has since been perfectly
restored to hide all traces of the injury, but it
has been always kept most carefully guarded from
that time.
The South Kensington Museum contains vast
and interesting collection of the more modern
relics and of curiosties of every Sort hut the
Der and variety great that one is simply
dazed in the contemplation.
The National Gallery has the largest and finest
collection of paintings in England, butts of course
behind the Louvre in interest. Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds is naturally well represented. His group
of cherub headsin golden mist we found the most
charming of his works with the exception of one
or two of his most speaking portraits.
The Crystal Palace is nothing more nor less than
a magnificent, permanent exhibition building. 1t
is interesting mainly for the inner courts, illustra
ting in chronological order all the styles of archi
lecture known to the world from earliest times.
The main aisles are beautifully ornamented
with statuary-copies of the most famous pieces
of sculpture in all ages of art. We paused long
before a modern piece called "Satan." Excepting
that of Angeles David We have never seen q mar
BILE face so expressive.
The parks of London are numerous and largo
and in the heart of the town, but they bare
stiff and unbeautiful, and many of them practical
ly forbidden to the common people, these beings
of less dainty clay having space or two-in,
stance the Battersea Park-set apart for their use
lest they should happen into too familiar proxim-
ity to their betters when the latter on Vanity
Fair parade.
With Buckingham Palace, the Albert Memorial,
the Trafalgar monument and the Parliament build
ings we found ourselves quite familiar from pic
lures and views.
Guild Hall was interesting and curious, and
while Cog and Magog glared down upon US with
their great sightless eyes, the Lord Mayor drove
up in state. His coach was of dark blue and
drawn by four horses caparisoned in trappings of
light blue cloth. He alighted gorgeous with vel
vet, gold lace and powdered wig, in full view of
the gaping populace, and entered the hall to the
| room, preceded by an official in glowing attire,
bearing the golden mace. We smiled satirically
over this state trumpery, and the American eagle
within our hearts tapped his wings.
| St. Paul's Cathedral is comparatively small
and not very exact copy of St. Peters in Rome,
and yet it is the third in size among the eccesi
astica structures of the world. 1t is gloomy be-
| yond description, having not even so much as
dim religious light. 1t is interesting for its
uments and also for the fact that it was completed
| by one architect, over one master mason and IN
| der one bishop, an unusual record for one of
| Europe's great Cathedrals.
The very mention of Westminster Abby gives
q thrill to the heart and it is too we'll known to
| need description. We dwelt long upon the
| epitaphic monuments of this English Vahala and
listened reverently to service conducted by Canon
Duckworth, in its chapel dating from Hepry VII.
1t was our privilege to hear sermon from
Canon Farrar, in st. Margaret's Church, which
adjoins the Abbey, a discourse simple in the ex-
treme and containing strong denunciations of the
tendency so rife to reckon ceremonial observances
as the substance of religion.
We also heard Mr.. Spurgeon in his great barn
of church, which has seating accommodations
for five thousand, and which was crowded even to
the gallery aisles. Mr. Sturgeon is exceedingly
simple in his style. He INDUCES in no flights
He sets forth in a plain, conversational discourse
the truths of religion he them and their ap
plcation to the heart and the life, and yet such is
the power of the man that Sabbath after Sabbath,
year in and year out, his great church is filed to
overlooking, we are told, with earnest, attentive
listeners.
For Windsor Castle one takes the underground
railway to Paddngton-and once of that is enough
and thence the Great Western. A combination
of all that is stately and picturesque is this glori
Gus structure with its vy-hung walls and towers
of pale grey stone with its stretches of soft green
turf; with its inner courts brilliant with bloom
ing plants; with commanding and magnificent
location. The state apartments seem pretty much
like all other state apartments, save that from one
of these can be seen in the green distance the
little church yard Of Stoke Pogis in which Grey
wrote his famous "Elegy," and that is enough to
redeem any set of state apartments from common
placeness.
The Albert Chapel is miracle of beauty. 1t
is the lavish expression of grief that can never
be told, of love that never wane, of honor to
a memory that can never be sufficiently cherished
The Royal News contain some eighty horses,
large number of choice cattle, and vehicles galore.
The horses and COWS stabbed in truly regal
style. The name of each is marked in large let.
ters over the feeding trough of the commodious
stall and everything in and about them is kept as